Chinese · Now open Spanish · Coming soon More languages · Growing

One more language,
one more way to see the world

To learn a language is to step into another culture, and to gain another way of thinking and of saying what you mean. At RDAS, World Languages let children discover a wider world by providing them with new perspectives and access to new people, thoughts, and works of art.

How We Teach Languages

RDAS language teachers adapt to each learner in the classroom, and teach with methods grounded in cognitive science.

Personalized Teaching: A Four-Layer Approach

Level 1

Tracking · Placed by language starting point

First, students are placed by starting point, so each one begins at the right level.

Level 2

Differentiation · Layered support within one classroom

Layered support within one classroom. Teaching flexes to each student.

Level 3

Difficulty · Desirable Difficulty and appropriate challenge

Content is pitched within reach, but only on tiptoe.

Level 4

Real Use · Applying learning in authentic contexts

Every unit ends with a real project that puts the language to use in a meaningful context.

Language 01

Chinese

Three Independent Tracks for Three Starting Points

The three tracks are fully independent, each with a complete curriculum, dedicated materials and internationally recognized benchmarks. A child who later moves to another school or country carries Chinese that maps to a clear standard, with no need to start over.

CMT Chinese Mother Tongue

Mother Tongue · Advanced learners

For students who use Chinese at home and are ready for advanced reading, writing, and literary appreciation. Depth and difficulty rise according to ability.

Benchmark

China’s national Chinese curriculum standards

Materials

Yuwen (语文)

G1–G5 progression

G1 Characters & reading aloud; building a word base
G2 Paragraph reading & connected expression
G3 Text comprehension; into writing
G4 Text analysis & expressing opinions
G5 Literary appreciation & independent writing
CSL Chinese as a Second Language

Second Language · Systematic progression

For students with some Chinese who need systematic consolidation and steady progression.

Benchmark

Singapore MOE Chinese syllabus

Materials

Huanle Huoban (欢乐伙伴)

G1–G5 progression

G1 Pinyin & high-frequency words
G2 Everyday sentence patterns in speech
G3 Short-text reading & picture writing
G4 Topic expression & wider vocabulary
G5 Paragraph-level reading & writing
CFL Chinese as a Foreign Language

Foreign Language · From zero

For students learning Chinese for the first time, starting from zero and building a base step by step.

Benchmark

YCT / HSK & ACTFL international standards

Materials

Chinese Made Easy series

G1–G5 progression

G1 Intro to Pinyin & basic characters
G2 Greetings & self-introduction
G3 Everyday-topic words & short sentences
G4 Situational dialogue & short paragraphs
G5 Practical use, benchmarked to YCT/HSK

Tracks reflect where a student starts, and each one has its own curriculum, written for that level.

Into Middle School, the Same Chinese Path Continues

Elementary school builds the base in listening, speaking, reading and writing, and middle school and high school extend it step by step. Example middle-school Chinese learning goals:

Reading & Viewing

Read longer and more sophisticated texts.

Translate short passages on a range of topics into the language of instruction

Infer the meaning of some unfamiliar words or language, including longer sentences, from context

Listening & Responding

Understand longer passages or conversations spoken clearly at near-normal speed with some unpredictable content

Infer the meaning of some unfamiliar language from context and tone

Take brief phonetic notes using familiar characters, conveying meaning accurately

Speaking & Presenting

Ask and answer confidently and spontaneously on a wide range of topics using correct sentence structure

Sustain longer improvised conversation on familiar topics, coping with unexpected questions

Make themselves understood in Chinese in almost all classroom communication

Writing

Express their own and others’ ideas and opinions with reasonable precision

Write a coherent short text of about a paragraph on several familiar topics

Apply Chinese syntax when writing, and explain how it differs from their native language

Grammar

Recall and use around 30 verbs

Handle a range of structures independently, including negatives and superlatives

Use correct word order consistently in questions and statements

Vocabulary

Recognize the meaning of a range of non-cognate words covering abstract and concrete concepts

Write familiar Chinese characters from memory consistently

From Pinyin in G1 to confident use in middle school: one continuous Chinese path, all the way through.

Systematic Planning · International Standards

Language That’s Recognized Wherever You Go

From elementary through high school, RDAS language courses are planned as one continuum across grades, not improvised semester by semester. Chinese begins with Pinyin in elementary school and advances step by step, connecting to higher goals in middle school and high school — coherent across every stage.

The curriculum is benchmarked to each language’s authoritative standards and to internationally recognized frameworks such as HSK, YCT and ACTFL. A student’s level therefore maps to clear standards, and progress can be measured and tracked.

For parents: if your child later transfers to another school or country, these competencies map to widely recognized standards — so your child doesn’t have to start from scratch.

An RDAS language teacher working with a small group of elementary students.

“Every teaching activity has a clear objective and sits within a long-term plan. From early introduction in elementary school to confident use in middle school and high school, each part follows a complete sequence.”

RDAS Language Curriculum Design Principles

Differentiation for Every Child

Differentiation Within One Classroom

Classroom example · Chinese character-writing

Most students practice strokes and characters in a writing workbook.

For elementary students who need more support, teachers provide craft materials so they form the same character by collaging and building.

Both routes land in the same place.

Two students working at the classroom smartboard while their teacher looks on.

Language teachers adapt instruction to students’ abilities and interests. This approach relies on RDAS’s low student-teacher ratio: with small classes, teachers can observe each student closely and prepare materials or adjust methods as needed.

Teaching Design Backed by Cognitive Science

In the elementary years, interest is a key driver of learning. RDAS language teaching is grounded in cognitive-science research:

Difficulty just above current level

Each lesson is set one notch above the student’s current level, requiring some effort to reach. Success that repeats is what keeps a child trying.

Basis: Vygotsky’s ZPD · Krashen’s i+1

Building self-regulated learning

Through project-based learning, students gradually master planning, doing, and reflecting, developing ownership of their learning that carries beyond the classroom.

Basis: Self-Regulated Learning

Using language in real contexts

Each unit consists of two parts: the first builds linguistic and cultural knowledge; the second applies that knowledge in real contexts.

Basis: Project-Based Learning

Using Chinese in Real Contexts

The examples below show how elementary students put classroom Chinese to use: observing, researching, explaining and presenting. Each centers on a real task.

Students tallying passing vehicles on an observation sheet at the roadside near campus.

Traffic Survey

After learning vehicle vocabulary, students head to a street near campus for fieldwork: using an observation sheet, they tally the vehicles passing in half an hour, then return to organize and analyze the data and report to the class. A follow-up discussion asks whether the data is objective and how more electric vehicles affect the community.

Students folding dumplings together around a classroom table as part of the Food unit, with a step-by-step video playing on the screen behind them.

Introducing a National Dish in Chinese

In the “Food” unit, students introduce a dish from their own country in Chinese. While practicing food vocabulary and sentence patterns, they bring their own cultural background into the classroom, creating genuine cross-cultural exchange. This reflects the two-way exchange in RDAS Chinese lessons: introducing Chinese culture while encouraging students to express their own country’s culture in Chinese.

A class presentation titled ‘Every Cup Tells a Story’, beside a tray of Chinese tea ware.

Picture Book: Lulu’s Chinese Tea

Using the picture book Lulu’s Chinese Tea, students read and discuss the idea that “every cup of tea has a story,” combining Chinese reading with cultural inquiry, understanding the story while learning the culture behind tea.

Students and their teacher around a table at a Chinese restaurant in Changi City Point, menus and notes in front of them as they record what they observe.

Chinese Restaurant Field Study

Students visit Changi City Point for a field study, researching and presenting in Chinese how a restaurant conveys its identity through space and decor. The full cycle runs from preparation and on-site research to a written report and a presentation, with students using Chinese to observe, record and explain what they see in a real setting.

Elective · Language 02

Spanish

We plan to add Spanish to our world language options when we open the high school. Spanish will be offered as an additional language option to our middle and high school students, alongside Chinese, taught with the same approach and held to the same high standards.

Coming Soon

Meet a Wider World
Through Language

RDAS World Languages runs across every grade and is benchmarked to international standards, with small class sizes that keep every child in view. Beyond language, explore our music and art programs, and meet the teachers behind these classrooms.

EAL Program English How Our Teachers Stand Out